Supporting Bassel

Bassel Khartabil has been imprisoned in Syria since 2012 for the vague
“crime” of “harming state security”. Near as anyone can tell, his
crime was in being an advocate for the use of the Internet as a
platform for free speech. Through his promotion of open source
software, his leadership of the Syrian Creative Commons community, and
his work building innovative new publishing platforms, Bassel worked
to connect Syria with the rest of the world, and to ensure that all
Syrians – supporters of Assad and opponents - could make their voices
heard online, even if they could not express themselves in physical
space.

Our work on Civic Media at the MIT Media Lab stems from the idea that
making media is a way of making change in the world. Bassel’s work is
in the best spirit of Civic Media, working to connect contemporary
Syrians to global conversations while preserving Syria’s rich history
and culture. Before his unjust incarceration, Bassel was working to
build a 3D model of the ancient city of Palmyra, much of which has
been destroyed by ISIS fighters in the past few months. At this tragic
moment in history, Syria is losing its physical history to religious
fanatics while persecuting the people who could be building their
digital future.